The Best Day of Our Lives

Ahh where to begin? I wouldn't say I've been putting this post off, but let's be real... I have. I wanted to wait enough time after our wedding to actually feel like I was reminiscing these details. (And I'm so glad I waited.) Not to mention, we have had a hectic few months since the wedding.

When we got back from California, I had post-wedding blues. I thought I was going crazy and quite frankly I didn't want to tell anyone how sad I felt. We just celebrated the best day of our lives, why did I feel so sad? Wasn't I supposed to be in honeymoon bliss? Pretty much anything was making me cry. Unpacking my luggage. Looking at photos. Talking to people. What. Was. Wrong. With. ME?

Well it turns out, post-wedding blues (aka depression) is real. Which it is taking me a lot to even admit this happened. Mental health is important and I think the stigma surrounding it is getting smaller and smaller. I feel that most brides are glad that the big event is over and done with, which I think is perfectly okay to feel too. But I was sad because I didn't want it to be over. The day I had been dreaming about since I was a little girl was finally here and all over with. It happened in the blink of an eye. Literally. All I wanted to do was go back in time and relive our day!

I finally came to the realization that it was okay to be sad. I had photos to look forward to and a video to remember the entire day. Best of all... I had a husband! We also had a reception in Oklahoma City to look forward to! And now after all the craziness, I'm finally ready to dedicate a post to our wedding. I want to mention that our wedding would not have happened without our amazing vendors throughout the entire process. I hope you will check them out and say hi!

The Best Day of Our Lives

The Morning Of   

Chad and I decided to be not so traditional throughout our entire wedding process. (Big surprise, right?!) Chad and I woke up on our wedding day and enjoyed coffee and cuddles together. Our photographer, the crazy talented Bree Record, took some morning of photos of us and they are some of my favorites. Especially the moment when I had to put Chad's shoes on to walk over to the air stream... I'm so glad you captured that Bree!

Getting Ready

It was time to separate and get ready. All the boys went to the lodge and the girls came over to the hatch house. The men played cornhole and the girls played mimosas. I was trying not to be nervous, but naturally I was! I don't think I've ever felt as many emotions as I did that day. I cried probably 100 times. All of a sudden it was time to put the dress on. I knew that I was going to do a first look with both my father and Chad and all the feels started setting in.

 Trying not to cry as I write my letter to Chad. 

My amazing sister-in-law making everyone grilled cheeses. 

Getting ready with Tanya Marie. I had no hair/ makeup trial and I honestly didn't really know what I wanted. I trusted them every second of the way though and couldn't have been happier with "winging it". 

Had to include this photo because I just love their reactions.(Especially MJ's.)

Chad and I picked out each other's perfume and cologne to wear on our wedding day. I read this little tip online years ago and told myself I had to remember to do it someday! Wearing a new perfume/ cologne is one of the best ways to remember your special day- especially when your significant other picked it out just for you.

First Look and Meeting Muppet

Chad and I decided to do a first look without hesitation. We wrote each other letters and read them to each other. We laughed, we cried, and more importantly we just enjoyed each other's company for just a few minutes before the night began. We also rented Muppet (an alpaca) from the Mobile Zoo of Southern California for our guests to meet and greet. We of course had a photo op with her too! Let me tell you, she stole the show away!

Chad reading his letter to me.

The Ceremony

We hired the amazing Erin Esses to play the cello during our ceremony. Her music was absolutely beautiful and she is just as kind as ever. She played everything from the Beatles to the Jurassic Park theme song as Chad and I walked out. On. The. Cello. I cried (again) as I was walking down the aisle with my father. We had a really special moment as he handed me off to Chad. 

Details, Details, Details

A big thank you to Heather, from Forever Cole Events, for putting my vision together. Most of the time she was creating my vision for me because she's just that amazing. She planned, she arranged, and much, much more! She is a Jane of all trades and her team is wonderful. I can't say enough about hiring a planner. Better yet, when you hire Forever Cole, you can also hire them for your floral needs. 

Cake by Over the Rainbow Desserts

Florals by Forever Cole Events

At Rimrock Ranch, they have a special 'ceremony' for all folks getting married there. There is a tree in the center of the ranch that has at least a hundred keys hanging from it. Every couple picks a vintage key out and hangs it on the tree the morning after the wedding. Well, being the impatient person I am, I asked the owners what all the keys were for the night of our wedding. They offered Chad and I to pick out our key that night to hang instead! It was one of my favorite moments of the day. I can't wait to go back someday and look for it. 

Our amazingly talented friend, Kiki Pierce, drew our signature cocktail sign! 

Heather of Forever Cole Events adding florals to our cake.

Our very simple guestbook and it turned out to be my favorite!

Enjoying the last part of our wedding night.

Because I didn't have one moment to sit down and enjoy our rentals from Thrifted Sister Vintage! Our arch and peacock chairs were also from Thrifted Sister Vintage.

Oklahoma City Reception 

Thank you to TXTopShop for creating our cake topper for our reception. She is incredibly kind and talented! If you're looking for a unique and handmade topper, definitely check her out! 

Photos by the one and only Scissortail Stories

I saved the best for last. A trailer of our wedding video. Michael of Scissortail Stoires is kind, talented, and an amazing videographer/ photographer. 

Chad and Chelsea Trailer from Scissortail Stories on Vimeo.

Although most of my amazing vendors are based in Oklahoma City, I know they are always willing to travel. Please check their work out or give them a follow! If you have any questions about vendors please feel free to leave a comment or email me. 

I hope you enjoyed this little recap of our special day. It was a joy to sit down and write. I began this post feeling a little vulnerable and now I feel like I've shared a part of me with you. I will always reminisce our special day and now I have it permanently written in my digital diary. 

xo Mrs. Haecherl

How to Create Moving Images (YES, like Harry Potter!)

Recently I came across a photo on Instagram and noticed that parts of the photo were moving.

 A) I was immediately intrigued. Does it remind anyone else of Harry Potter?! 

B) I began scrolling through the comments to see if the person who posted the photo answered everyone's question: HOW did you do this? 

C) They didn't. So naturally, I began Googling and searching the app store to see what I could find! 

Side note: If someone asks me where I got something or how I edited something, I'm so happy to share. I'm thrilled someone is even interested in what I've posted! So this is why I'm creating this short tutorial! Because what's mine is yours. This is the internet, not the last leg of Amazing Race. I'm here to share all the knowledge I have and I love connecting with people to do so. Community >>> Competition 

I found a couple of apps, but I ended up downloading Enlight Pixaloop because it's free. You can also check out StoryZ Photo Motion and see if it is any different. I noticed that one had in-app purchases, so I haven't tried it yet. It looks like it might have a lot more features though!

Once you download Pixaloop, you can watch the short tutorial they have and probably figure it out for yourself... BUT I'm more of a do-it-myself kind of gal, so I skipped the tutorial and immediately began editing. The best type of photo to use is one with big skies or lots of water. Pixaloop does offer faux sky overlays, but I'm personally not the biggest fan and I wanted to edit my own photo. I think it's a cool feature to play around with though!

Let's edit your photo:

• When you have your photo uploaded and ready to edit, tap 'animate'.
• Tap 'path' and draw an arrow in the direction you would like your photo to move.
  
• You'll notice your entire photo is moving and probably making you slightly dizzy. Now we want to 'freeze' everything that wouldn't naturally be moving. Which is going to be a majority of the photo most likely! 
  
• If you freeze too much, tap the unfreeze button to 'erase' anything you don't want frozen. 
• You can adjust the speed, but it is automatically at the slowest speed to begin with. I think the slowest speed looked best with my clouds.
• You can test what your photo is going to look like by hitting the play and pause button on the right.

I'm definitely no expert, but this app is a lot of fun to play around with! It has a bunch of other features other than animation too. I liked beginning with a photo that was super simple and not a ton of sky. Next time I will definitely be editing a photo with lots of sky and more landscape! 

So, what did you guys think? A very amateur tutorial, but again I'm just here to share some fun knowledge! Let me know in the comments if you would like more tutorials in the future! 

xo